Alzheimer, Cannabidiol, Neurogenesis and Stress

Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disease and has become one of the most prominent diseases of our aging population. It is characterized by cognitive decline caused by tangles, twisted fibres within neurons and plaque, protein deposits between neurons (Bernstein et al., 2012). Amyloid beta is the main component of plaque and can be injected in rats to cause neuroinflammation and to simulate Alzheimer disease for studies in the hope of finding a cure. Cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive compound of the recreational drug marijuana. Cannabidiol has shown to have neuroprotective properties in those rats, and even more astoundingly promoted neurogenesis in the hippocampus and was able to improve brain function (Esposito et al., 2011). A different study found that cannabidiol promotes neuroplasticity and therefore can aid brain recovery after an ischemic stroke and may reduce emotional and cognitive impairment caused by such brain damage (Mori et al., 2016). Cannabidiol also appears to have anxiolytic affects. When mice have been continuously stressed in an unpredictable manner, they become anxious and depressed and this in turn reduces hippocampal neurogenesis. Injections of cannabidiol decreased these effects of chronic stress and proved to be protective of anxiety behaviours caused by stress (Fogaça et al., 2017).

References

Esposito, G., Scuderi, C., Valenza, M., Togna, G. I., Latina, V., De Filippis, D., Cipriano, M., Carratu, M. R., Iuvone, T. & Steardo, L. (2011). Cannabidiol Reduces Ab-Induced Neuroinflammation and Promotes Hippocampal Neurogenesis through PPARc Involvement. PLoS ONE 6(12): e28668. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028668

Fogaça, M. V., Campos, A. C., Coelho, L. D., Duman, R. S. & Guimaraes, F. S. (2018). The anxiolytic effects of cannabidiol in chronically stressed mice are mediated by the endocannabinoid system: Role of neurogenesis and dendritic remodelling. Neuropharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.03.001

Mori, M. A., Meyer, E., Soares, L. M., Milani, H., Guimarães, F. S., Weffort de Oliveira, R. M. (2016). Cannabidiol reduces neuroinflammation and promotes neuroplasticity and functional recovery after brain ischemia. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.11.005

Watt, G. & Karl, T. (2016). In vivo Evidence for Therapeutic Properties of Cannabidiol (CBD) for Alzheimer’s Disease. Frontiers in Pharmacology 8:12. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00020

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